The computer that's number one in consumer satisfaction
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There is a great show on Canadian Public broadcaster CBC called "The Age of Persuasion". It is a really thorough look at marketing. This discussion to me has driven home some of the points that the host Terry O'Rielly has made about branding and loyalty, and where a corporation puts its marketing dollars to achieve the best bang for their buck.
Since in a marketing world it costs way less to keep an established customer than lose one, these ads appeal to the Mac "tribe", (already branded loyal customers) since they get to chuckle at PC.
At the same time it hammers away at the weak points of their target opponent, (and in this I tend to agree with solo, at least recently they have been concentrating on Windows, and in particular Vista) and pick off the customers that even have a suspicion that there are problems with Vista (whether there is or not is irrelevant, it is the perception). And most of the so called "problems" hammered at in the ads are public knowledge, overblown or not.
Since for most of my life I have worked for myself, I am fascinated by marketing, and the apple marketing strategy has always been quite brilliant. For most of its corporate history apple has adhered to the strategy first developed by Regis McKenna back in 1984 or so. Here are some quotes from the original strategy:Regis McKenna on marketing the mac computer.
"This requires defining who users are, making the case for one set of technological standards over another, constructing alliances and strategic partnerships. It also requires constructing the rules by which a product would be evaluated-- inventing the concepts, terms of evaluation, and discourse that would define a product.
Thus, high-tech marketing involves not just convincing buyers that a product is right for them; it involves convincing them to think of themselves as members of a group who would-- almost by definition-- be interested in that product. As sociologists of technology would put it, the technology and its market are co-productions.
Because high-tech products are expensive, require more support, and have longer-term impacts on customers than other consumer goods, it is also important to tell a compelling story about the company behind the technology could also help sales. An image of stability, a track record of innovation, or a reputation for customer focus can reassure customers that they are making the right choice."The evolution of this strategy is evident in these ads.
This is about marketing and branding pure and simple. It reinforces the reasons Mac fans are mac fans, it picks off the fringe pc users, and it is inevitable that it pisses off the PC and Windows power users.To clarify I use both mac and pc, and like them both. I regrettably don't own apple shares which contrary to the message of desperation are in fine shape driven by the following information derived from Oct 19th financial statement which indicates that: Mac computer sold 3.05 million units in the last quarter a 17% increase over the same quarter last year. ipods were down 8% selling 10.2 million units, and the iphone sold 7.4 million units a 7% increase.
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@xrok1 said:
well for me (and i think a lot of others) part of the joy of owning a pc is to see what you can get out of it. anyone can get a mac (or brand name pc) off the shelf and use it. so what! its like buying a hot rod and not tuning it? why? integrated graphics, integrated sound, phewey. give me upgrades or give me death.
If that's what provides fun to you, excellent. It's a harmless hobby, not terribly expensive, potentially useful to others and maybe it will even result in you (or someone you inspire) producing something we all benefit from. I used to do it too. These days I get my kicks from other aspects of building and customising and for my computer I just want a decent tool that does the job I need with the least amount of intrusion into my thought process. I find that anytime I need to have anything to do with Windows it annoys me. So I avoid it as much as possible.
None of these arguments are ever soluable because they are about what an individual likes to do and there are at least as many ways as people. Hand tools or power tools, pc vs mac vs *nix vs pencils, ford vs chevy vs real cars, biplanes vs monoplanes, gas vs electric, right vs left, stockings vs tights, blondes vs redheads and on and on.
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Now blondes vs redheads that would be a real topic
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Isn't this a religious topic?
Things you should never discuss. . . Politics, religion, the Great Pumpkin . . .Mac v. PC.
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And considering the percentage of Mac users as opposed to PC users, that is a HUGE amount unhappy and happy Snow Leopard customers.
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Back to topic, apparently my idea of "consumer satisfaction" is very different from Apple's.
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582,000 windows problems when adjusted for amt of time since release (75days snowleopard - 25 days windows7)
but that # will probably increase exponentially as more people upgrade..meh.. fun with statistics.. this could go back&forth all year long
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who uses the term 'rocks' anyways?
oh yeah -
Do the same adjustment for this statistic
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damn, i need to get with the program
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You're absolutely right, Jeff. Saying that something "rocks" is not as common as saying that you "love" something. Now, if again you could adjust this for official release time of each OS, meaning the number for Windows 7 must be multiplied by 3...
Now this is my idea of consumer satisfaction. -
ha
the first problem listed on the site with the top search result for 'snow leopard problems'"Cracked iphoto version doesn’t work"
more stats -- (quite telling
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[fwiw, snow leopard isn't a major OS update.. it's just a fine tuned version of leopard (core level) with only a couple of new features.. it only costs like 25 bucks or something]
most of the problems probably have to do with broken software and that's why i always wait a while to upgrade.. gotta wait til the software people update on their end..
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Now this is surprising, I would have thought Bill gates was as hated as Bin Laden, looks like Stevie boy has won this one.
Must be all the PC owners hating the ad campaign.
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Pete, you have to use quotes to get the exact wording
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Ah, that looks about right...the world is back in balance.
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I use both Windows and Mac. Both are equally annoying at the best of times. Mac's workflow imho is better than Windows, but Windows allows for more design software to be run.
I saw this interesting remark from Bill Gates the other day. You may find it interesting!
...and yes, there is nothing as boring as a Mac vs PC debate, but aren't they so much fun?!
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